Sports Briefs: Downey Calvary Chapel offense erupts for 54 points in season opener

DOWNEY – The Downey Calvary Chapel football team improved to 1-0 this season by defeating Sage Hill at Sage Hill, 54-30, last Friday night. 

With the loss, Sage Hill fell to 0-1. DCC will host Lighthouse Christian this Saturday night at Downey High School at 5:00 p.m. This will be Lighthouse Christian’s season opener.

In the Sage Hill game, DCC led 8-0 after the first quarter and took a 24-16 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Grizzlies scored 22 unanswered points in the third quarter and led 46-16 going into the fourth quarter. Sage Hill outscored DCC 14 -8 in the third quarter but DCC won the game comfortably, 54-30.

Coach Mike Nuno is proud of his team’s effort last Friday night. DCC only suits up 16 players this season so remaining healthy will be extremely important for the Grizzlies’ success.

■ The St. John Bosco football team improved to 1-0 this season with a 34-0 win against St. Xavier of Ohio at the University of Cincinnati last Saturday night. 

With the loss, St. Xavier fell to 0-1. St John Bosco will now travel to La Mirada to face the Matadores later today. The Matadores are 1-0 after winning their season opener against Orange Lutheran 21-14 last Friday night at Orange Coast College.

In the St. Xavier game, the Braves led at the end of the first quarter 14-0 and took a 24-0 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Braves scored 10 more unanswered points in the third quarter to lead 34-0. Neither team scored in the fourth quarter and St. John Bosco won 34-0.

With the win against St. Xavier, Bosco is now ranked 3rd in the Xcellent Top 25 poll, 9th in the national poll and 2nd in the state poll.

 ■ The Warren High School football team was defeated by Don Lugo at Don Lugo last Fiday night, 18-0. With the win, Don Lugo improved to 1-0 on the season and with the loss, Warren fell to 0-1. 

Warren will host Kaiser later today. Kaiser is 0-1 on the season after losing their opener to Glendora at home 33-19.

Warren sophomore quarterback Chris Venegas completed 7/18 pass attempts for 99 yards and carried the ball four times for 17 yards. Venegas did not throw an interception. The Bears ran the ball 24 times for 69 yards. Warren’s rushing attack was led by Nikko Fierro-Tuala’s nine carries for 30 yards and Zaky Fuiava’s six carries for 11 yards.

The Bear receiving corps were led by Robbie Colenzo’s four catches for 61 yards and Jordan Mayes’ three catches for 38 yards. Colenzo also had a 38 yard punt return and Mayes’ returned a punt for 30 yards.

Warren’s defense was led by linebacker Jorge Valderrama’s 15 tackles, Sirahn Fields’ eight tackles, Mikel Trujillo’s six tackles with one interception and Donovan Tayler’s six tackles. Bear defensive back Jordan Mayes had one interception as well.

The Bears hope to even their record tonight at home against Kaiser. Coach Lara, his staff and players are looking forward to it.

■ The Downey High School football team defeated San Pedro at San Pedro last Friday night, 27-21. With the win, Downey improved to 1-0 on the season and with the loss, San Pedro fell to 0-1. 

Downey will host Hart tonight at Downey High School. This will be Hart’s 2016 season opener.
The Vikings trailed 7-0 at the end of the first quarter and still trailed 14-13 entering the locker rooms at halftime. The Vikings scored a touchdown in the third quarter but were unsuccessful on the conversion attempt. Downey led at the end of the third quarter 19-14. Downey outscored San Pedro 8-7 in the fourth quarter and ended up defeating the Pirates 27-21.

Downey quarterback Trevor Hill completed 16/31 pass attempts for 195 yards and two touchdowns. Emari Demercado ran the ball 24 times for 263 yards and scored three touchdowns. One of Demercado’s three touchdowns was on a 55 yard reception from Hill. 
Viking receivers Joseph Alex caught three passes for 42 yards and scored one touchdown, Ryder Hawkins caught three passes for 32 yards, Ricky Hickson caught three passes for 31 yards and Baraq Ross caught three passes for 28 yards. 

Daniel Chavez led the Viking defense with 14 tackles, Michael Cabrera had 13 tackles, including two for a loss, Malcolm Perry had 11 tackles and Andrew Vodicka had nine tackles, including one for a loss. 

Coach Williams was pleased with how well his is team responded in the second half. Williams will take the win, rest up and now get ready for Hart later today.

■ Former Lady Bear standout runner and basketball player Danielle Rodriguez has just signed a contract to play professional basketball in Iceland. 

Rodriguez, a 2012 graduate of Warren High School, signed an eight-month contract to play for Stjarnan in the women’s premier basketball league. Danielle will be leaving in September and returning in April. 

“DRod” sees this experience as an excellent opportunity to showcase her skills and improve as a professional player. Danielle hopes to be playing professionally in Europe in the next few years.

Rodriguez was also able to represent the United States in late May and early June for ten days in China as part of a college senior All-Star team. The United States played Lithuania, Australia and China and finished 4-2 overall. Danielle said it was a great experience and learned a lot playing internationally.

Rodriguez graduated from the University of Utah this summer with a degree in Business Marketing. Danielle had a 3.49 G.P.A. and was the winner of several awards. Rodriguez was the recipient of the All State Good Works Award off the court for community involvement and was given Honorable Mention overall for the PAC 12 as well as Honorable Mention for the PAC 12 as a defensive player.

Danielle remains humble with her accomplishments. She believes in setting goals and taking one day at a time. Rodriguez is grateful to her parents, family, friends and others who have helped her along the way. 

Coaches Rachel Palmer and Jay Waldron are extremely proud of Danielle and wish her the best of luck in her future.